Thanks ( or izzit no thanks?) to Woman Weekly's Dining Vouchers, I'm trying out this semi-lunch buffet at the Gallery Hotel. Dun be mistaken. I dun meant that the food here at Zenden is no good. Just that because of all those vouchers, I start going to all these eating places that I prolly wont thought of going or dun even know its existence. Keke.
The plate was pretty with pink and purple. In fact, the whole hotel was kinda colourful. A cheerful environment sure whet up my appetite... I woke up early on a Saturday morning just to come here to eat lor...
Neber would have gone to this Italian Resturant at Marina Mardarin if not for the 1-for-1 voucher. Firstly, it looks too high class ( i.e too expensive) for me. Secondly, me aint a hardcore fan for italian food.. fancy paying $20-$30 for a plate of paste? Think twice.. keke
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The atmosphere was indeed.... Super High Class! The whole resturant was nicely decorated with paintings. Even the waiter and waitress were super polite. We were shown to our seat by a staff, and then handed over to a Japanese waitress. She will always end her statement with " Sir or Madam", with a smile and make a gentle bow. They really made us feel "privileged"!
Panne - $10
Dint know the "sky-blue" was chargeable and at such an alarming price of $10 for a bottle. Imported water mah...what to do? But seriously, there was no difference in the taste. Think my tap water tasted as good!
Bread Assortment ( FOC)
Paste with Beef in Red Wine Sauce - $22Tasted like normal bolognese spaghetti. A bit salty too. But they were really generous with the minced beef and the noodles. Hmm.. Forgiven then.
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Paste with Spinach and Cheese Filling - $23
This looked more like dumplings than pasta! Each piece was packed with minced spinach and cheese. Surprisingly good with such simple ingredients.
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Cream Pudding with Orange Liquer - $14
One word => Fantastic! Different from the normal dessert I tried before. Each spoonful was smooth creamy pudding that left a tinge of bitter ( prolly due to the orange liquer) after taste. A perfect yin-yang match indeed.
Total I spent approximately $50+ for a dinner for two. Cant imagine how much would one need to pay to be satisfactorily full without the discount voucher. And hor, one thing I dun really enjoy going to such Classy places is that I cant be myself. I got to eat demurely, put down my utensil softly, talk in a whisper... Urghhhhh... SO TROUBLESOME!! Dun you think so? =p
Happened to past by this ice cream shop when I was actually going to another dessert => Cheesecake Cafe the other day. Decided to go back again when few days later it was featured in Today. Since FATE had decided to bring us together... so there I went lor! Keke ( Wah Kao! You are thinking rite? Aiya..it's just another excuse for sweet stuff mah!)
The shop is not quite apparent unless you really look out for it while driving along East Coast Road. There is no distinctive landmark there, but it's beside some terrace houses... hehe.. Not much help huh? Aiya, East Coast Road is just a straight road, drive straight lor.. cant find, then U-turn, then drive straight again lor... keke
Anyway, the shop was quite empty when we reached there. And not long later, the crowd just kept flowing in... Trust Me. I somehow will "attract" crowd to shop. So calling food shop owners out there! Invite me for free meal!!!!
Procedure for ordering:
1) Decide the size you want : Regular ( $3.10) or Large ( Forgot, obviously I took regular)
2) Pick the flavour you like
3) Pick the mix-in you like ( $0.70 per mix-in)
4) Grab a seat and wait to be served ( really must grab, coz not much seats in the shop)
SO the so-called ice-cream chef will mix the selected ice-cream and the mix-in together. Well, for the price of $3.10, you actually can mix 2 ice-cream flavour together. But then I only knew that when I read the reviews made by others. Was NOT told when I made my order and it was not written anywhere to say that I can mix 2 ice-cream flavour at no additional cost. HUMPT!
My order: Watermelon icecream with corn flakes
This was quite good. Refreshing taste compared to the normal creamy kind and it was not that wickedly sweet. And the corn flakes made it even better! So my advice, choose mix-in that will give a crunchy texture to the ice-cream. Definitely taste better!
JW's order: Nutella icecream with Mashmallow
This will be those creamy ice-cream. Chocolately with bits of Nutella lump within the ice-cream. But the mashmallow dun blend with the ice-cream that well. Mashmallow was mashmallow. Ice-cream was ice-cream. The combination just dun gave you a complete picture.
Actually after the visit, an idea just popped up in my head. The innovative part is the mix-in. So prolly I can grab maybe a XXX brand ice-cream from the supermarket and mix in corn flakes ( and I can really pour in lotza lotza).. and TA TA!! Coz $3.80 for such a tiny cup is really not very affordable for someone who earns peanuts and eat peanuts.. =p
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ICECREAM CHEF
Venue: 520 East Coast Road #01-06
Contact: 6446 6355
Haha.. cant imagine I'm blogging about a kopitiam stall. But then again, this is not just your normal ordinary stall. It has outlets all over Singapore, in fact all together six of them! I really pity the stalls beside Botak... Why? Obviously, most customers in the kopitiam come for Botak lor.
The food definitely are better than the normal western stalls. But I must stress, dun set your standards to that of Anges Steakhouse. Please lor... Ya going to pay for $6.50 for Fish & Chips or maybe $14.50 for a 200gm steak.. So for the price, they are good enuff! Be contented! Keke..
Sauces at your own preference: Mustard, Tomato, Chilli and Vinegar? I never tried the Vinegar sauce though.. look hostile to me =p How should you match it with? Steak or Fish? Funni..
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Big chunky steak with slightly spiced fries and colesaw @$14.50
My FAV!! The steak was nicely grilled and the size was generous too. I'm a CARNIVORE! Give me more meat!!! Well anyway, I prefer bloody steak.. so definitely a medium rare or medium for me. Dipped the steak into the mushroom sauce given.... Marvellous! Bing Bing Piang Piang lor! Somemore hor, the staff also gave large serving of fries and colesaw. The plate almost couldnt hold its content! 值得啦！
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Fish & Chips @ $6.50
A steal at only $6.50! Again with overflowing colesaw and fries..
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Chicken Hotdog Bun @ $6.50
This was huge too! I wonder, does the owner used to work for a giant's kitchen? Hoho..
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The hotdog gave a firm texture, and charcoal-grilled. Try it if you wan something less meaty.
Although I got to queue at the counter to make my order, I found the service good considering the context in a kopitiam. Sauces, utensils and the food will be served to your tables. Staff was generally prompt to your request ( extra plates etc) and giving back your changes ( you only pay when food are served).
If you dun really like to dine in kopitiam, perhaps the Toa Payoh outlet will be your preferred choice. The whole canteen machiam turned itself into " Botak Cafe" at night as the other stalls are closed. Good for late night munching also as it closes late.
Update of Picture
Went to Botak Jones at Braddell/Toa Payoh ( near SPH) during lunch time and ordered the Botak burger. This cost $5.50 + $1 ( add cheese), note that the price is not inclusive of fries and salad. Well, I ka-po my colleagues' salad and fries mah.. hehe. Anyway, the service there was really fantastic! One of my colleague wanted to order salad only, which is $3 for a plate. But she had her meal oreadi so she asked whether there was any smaller portion. Guess wah? The sweet waiter came back with a small bowl of salad and it was free for her!! A round of applause for the superb service and generosity.. ^__^
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BOTAK JONES ( American)
Venue: All around Singapore ( See website)
Website: http://www.botakjones.com/
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